Pirouette a la Seconde
by Razer Athane
Summary: They are alike – just in different skins, with different thicknesses. -Asuka x Lili, Oneshot-


Disclaimer: If I owned Tekken, I would've made many more unique winposes for TTT2.

Author's Note: Apologies for dropping two oneshots on you guys but I really wanted to get this one out, I'm oddly happy with it! Points if you can guess the companion/prequel fic to this one ;3 Buuut it can be classed as a stand alone too. For two special Asuka/Lili fans. You know who you are. Thanks for being awesome :3

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><p><strong>PIROUETTE Á LA SECONDE<strong>

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><p>"You are far too clumsy. You can't join, and my word is final. Now leave."<p>

Asuka rolls her eyes and turns away from the instructor, pulling her backpack closer to her body. Straightening up, she walks out of the room with her head held high and with her friend by her side, "I don't need to attend this stupid dance school anyway!"

Leo rubs her temples and sighs, "Don't get cocky in here, do it outside…"

She glares at the German before opening the door for her. Leo passes without another word, and before she has the opportunity to follow her, another blonde with longer hair is making a mad dash for the entrance, "Excuse me! Please hold the door!"

…This is the first time Asuka had seen Lili outside of work hours.

She had only met Lili three times before when they were forced to work the same shift. Amidst the foggy cigarettes and drunken daze in that Iron Fist bar, she'd never really noticed how pretty she was – she furrows her eyebrows for a moment to try and derail the thought – and Lili looks at her, surprised, "Asuka? May I ask what you are doing here?"

"So what are you?" she asks, blinking incredulously, "Break dancer or something?"

Lili looks insulted and glares, "As if I would associate myself with such a horrific, inelegant style!"

With that, she enters the school without as much as a second glance at her co-worker. Asuka huffs in annoyance and rejoins Leo at the bottom of the stairs, ignoring the look of surprise on her face. She wanted to ask many more questions, but Asuka is due to start work soon, and Leo herself needs to get home.

"Maybe there's somewhere else," Leo offers, looking both ways. Where is the damn bus?

"Maybe I should punch the instructor in the face," she growls.

* * *

><p><em>Ballet.<em>

Asuka casts a glance at Lili, who is busy trying to chat up this famous blonde boxer – Steve Wolf or something? She doesn't remember – before shaking her head. For someone with such a smarmy mouth and rambunctious attitude, she cannot, at all, imagine the Monaco youth to be a ballerina. Yet that's what she is. She mentioned it when she passed her only moments ago.

"You look like a dork. Stop staring like that."

Asuka glares at Hwoarang and immediately counters, wiping up the glass so viciously that it nearly cracks in her hands, "At least I don't look as retarded and stalker-like as you do when you used to look at my cousin! Wait where is he anyway? He's usually here right about now…"

He blinks for a few moments before chuckling a little with a wry smirk, opening his wallet. He grabs a five thousand yen note and slides it across the table, watching her snatch it up with a frustrated grunt, "He found some job at the library for four days a week…" he stops her from getting change, "Just give me the whole bottle and keep the change. You need it for those ugly bills of yours."

"I fucking hate working here, Hwoarang," she remarks with a sigh, "I'm sick of going home and smelling like beer."

He smiles sympathetically, "You gotta do what you gotta do. Better that you're a barmaid than a prostitute. _Anyyy_way," he takes a sip and gestures to Lili with the green bottle, "Why her? I thought you would've been straight and into that blonde guy with the thick accent."

"I _am_ straight!" she hisses under her breath, and then adds, "And Leo's a _girl, _Hwoarang."

"…Really?"

She rolls her eyes and notes someone up the back of the building acting suspiciously. She looks to the Korean again and sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose because the smell in here's getting to her again, "Can you go break that up for me or something? My boss is still shitty at what I did to Chaolan a month ago. That's why Lili's here – to 'keep an eye' on me or some bullshit."

He nods and goes off, soju still in his hand. As she moves to serve other people, she glances at Lili again. There is something about her that's fucking up her brain, and she doesn't like it. That, and if she showed her face at that dance school again, the girl is _sure _to make fun of her. That school was the only place in town that didn't immediately slam the door in her face, too – they at least let her have a go before doing that.

"Learn how to _dance, _Asuka," she begins, mimicking her Mother under her breath as she pours another drink for the gruff man with tower-like blonde hair in front of her. Her tone increasingly becomes angrier, "You need to be more _lady_like, Asuka. You can't go around beating people up _forever, _Asuka. One day you'll be in _jail _and without a _husband, _Asuka. Make me _proud _of you already, Asuka."

"You think you've got problems?" the man starts, leaning towards her and lowering his voice to an almost distant whisper, "There are aliens at my house."

* * *

><p>She doesn't sleep for a few weeks because she's beginning to question herself. If she's straight then why does she keep smiling whenever she looks at Lili? No guy's made her smile like that instantaneously, not even Shin did when she liked him back in high school.<p>

She's called up Leo, who can sympathise with her predicament. Asuka feels really stupid – how can she possibly – _possibly _– like someone who she barely knows? She snorts, "Yeah, I think I'm just appreciating her 'beauty', Leo. There's probably a big bad monster hidden underneath that…" When Leo doesn't respond, she then quickly adds, "Tell me I'm an idiot."

"It's not my job to tell you you're an idiot," Leo sighs and continues. It's late at night and she's incredibly tired, "Look, nothing says you have to name yourself as whatever, you're who you are and that's it. If you're curious, go for it. Try and find a common interest and go from there."

"I'm getting into that dance school," Asuka suddenly says.

"What?"

"I am going to get into that _dance. School. _That can be the common interest! We can both dance together and then talk during work hours and all that to get to know each other. Screw that instructor, I reckon I can do it. Maybe I can get a different instructor to see me this time –"

"Are you sure that you want to go to that dance school_ just _to meet and understand Lili?" Leo inquires softly, "Or are you doing it to shut your Mother up? Because you sure as hell know she wouldn't accept you if you were anything other than straight."

She frowns, "I…"

Leo's right. She actually doesn't know why she suddenly wants to do it. Like, _wants _to do it.

"I don't want to seem unsupportive, but you don't belong there. So don't try to fit in, because you're only going to make yourself angrier at yourself and the world, and that's something you can't really afford right now."

She doesn't want to believe Leo, so she won't.

* * *

><p>It's like watching an angel fight… almost. For lack of a better analogy.<p>

The grace shines as Lili dances. She spins in a small circle before holding a particular pose, and then continues through the dance. Asuka is watching from a large window that looks directly into the dance studio. She might not have Lili's control but she sure as hell has the same determination and fitness level! And that counts and could make up for it, right?

The instructor claps as Lili bows. It seems to have been entirely perfect, without a foot out of line.

"Now look who's being stalkerish."

Asuka jumps back and immediately moves to strike Hwoarang in the face, but he predicts it and merely takes a step to the right, laughing. Flustered, she glares up at him like a sibling would, trying to calm down, "You shut your whore mouth!"

"Whore mouth?" he asks, eyebrows raised.

There's no response for a moment, and then she pulls at her hair, "What are you _doing _here?"

He points to the building across the road, grinning a little, "Just got out of the gym and saw you casually standing here, being stalkerish. So I came to investigate," he then points at her before stuffing his hand into his pocket, "What are _you _doing here?"

"I'm doing nothing!"

"Hey is that Lili in there?" he's looking over her head and his grin is growing at an alarming speed. She immediately stands on her toes to try and block his view – not like that does anything, "It's Lili, isn't it? I thought you -"

Asuka growls, "Stop being so tall!"

"You're blushing," and now he laughs. Really hard.

"No fuck you!"

"If you wanna get to know her that badly, why don't you just talk to her? Seriously."

"Says the guy who would watch my cousin _stalkerishly _and say nothing like a mute fuck!"

Without another word, Asuka walks off, infuriated and unaware of the strength of the blow she dealt. She needs the punching bags. Right now.

* * *

><p>Asuka and Lili are closing up the Iron Fist bar and cleaning the tables. The former is deathly silent, still pissed off about earlier in the day and still confused about herself. The latter is humming some French tune that she's heard before, but forgets the name of because it sounds weird. Either way, it's nice to hear. Sort of. It sounds kinda nasally.<p>

And then Lili speaks, "So Asuka, how was your day today?"

"U-um, not too bad! Just trained, mainly. Went for a bit of a walk around the mall because I gotta get new sneakers sometime soon. And you?"

"My day was so tiring," she sighs, exasperated, and overdramatically flings a hand out as she looks to the Japanese youth, "I am so sick of being forced to do the same ballet move over and over again! Have you any idea how difficult a pirouette á la seconde is? It is so _vexing!_"

"A what?"

She slows her speech, "It means 'the second spin'. Try it with me, Kazama. Pirouette. Á. La. Seconde."

She does try but her mouth gets tongue-tied, so she curses in Japanese before going, "Whatever."

"Why were you at the dance school that day?" Lili inquires, placing the cloth on the tabletop, "It was most unusual seeing you there."

"Wanted to go and learn. Ended up flunking it like my exams," she shrugs, "My Mum has this crazy idea about not being ladylike and –"

Lili purses her lips in careful thought, and Asuka looks at them for a few moments with a faint interest before resuming work. Soon enough, Lili walks up to her and grabs her hands, "Drop that disgusting thing," and she does, "Come over here with me. I am going to teach you a bit of a dance called the waltz! You will do the male part."

"Wait wait wait, why do _I _have to do the male part?" she shouts, losing her breath as she's pulled into the middle of the empty building.

"Because," Lili grins, "I am simply too delicate to be anything other than the woman."

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><p>'<em>Leo… I danced with her. When the bar was closed. I think I trod on her toes a few thousand times but she didn't make fun of me, she'd glare at me for a few seconds before saying 'let's try this again'. WITHOUT LAUGHING. She said I just need to focus and stop worrying about screwing up and all. It was… nice.'<em>

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><p>They talk sometimes during work, but it's nothing too in depth. All Asuka knows is that she's definitely interested in this lady and wants to learn more about her, but she never catches her in time. She's been leaving earlier and earlier lately because she needs to practice more for a dance recital, and she feels down when she is alone again in the bar.<p>

Asuka's tried going to the dance school again – three times – but each time she was rejected. The first one was nice about it, saying if she kept practicing for a few months she could be ready, and she was wished luck. The second was not as kind, rather bland, telling her to stop wasting their time. The third and final one was the same one from weeks ago – Asuka didn't even get a chance this time – and she was told to stop bothering.

Lili had been there on that third time. She had frowned.

Today though, Lili is smiling at her. Asuka's flustered, "What?"

"Would you like to come to watch my dance recital on Sunday?"

Leo's playing pool across the room and grins when Asuka nods enthusiastically and Lili walks off. It's then that the Japanese girl's cellphone goes off, and Leo resumes focusing on the game, asking Hwoarang to make his move already instead of keeping an eye out for Jin in case he comes in early. She hopes that Asuka understands her text.

She does. She grins too and goes on her merry way.

'_You don't have to become a dancer to get to know her. Just express interest in it and a form of understanding, and support her. I think you almost have it through this second spin.'_

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><p>Hwoarang's accompanied her to the event, because he wouldn't mind appreciating the arts. She feels a little jarred with him being there amongst a bunch of other girls, but it was bring him or go alone – Leo's doing some special assignment for University.<p>

They're a few minutes away on foot, and Asuka tucks some of her hair behind her ear as Hwoarang prattles on about something or other whilst inhaling more smoke from his cigarette. He quietly notes her nervousness and tries to find an alternate topic to talk about, but she keeps bringing it back to Lili and how tonight she's going to try and say something, or at least make her interests known.

"Do you think she'd care?" Asuka blurts, "I mean, that I could possibly be –"

"Maybe, maybe not," he shrugs, "If there's something I've learnt from being gay, it's that there's always gonna be someone with a different opinion to you and that'll shun you. That's why I live here in Osaka instead of in Seoul. At the same time though there's people who will accept you for who you are," he scratches his head and his voice sort of mellows out for a bit, "I'm still not comfortable with who I am. I don't think I'll ever be."

That makes her stop.

Hwoarang is by far in a way the most confident person she knows. If he's still uncomfortable… then what about her? How will she be?

He's now waving a paper in her face. She blinks and takes it, "What's this?"

He grins widely and starts walking with her again, "I wrote you a bunch of pickup lines."

"…What."

"Read 'em, read 'em!"

Asuka sighs loudly and brings the paper closer to her face.

"Seeing as you helped set me up with Jin, I wanna try and help you get with Lili."

She begins reading the scrawled English out loud, "'You must be in the wrong place – the Miss Universe contest is over there'," her eyebrows furrow a little as she continues, "'Are you a magnet, 'cos I'm attracted to you'. 'I was blinded by your beauty so I'm going to need your name and number for insurance reasons.' 'You look so sweet that you're giving me a toothache'. 'If you'd let me, I'd eat my way to your heart –' _HWOARANG._"

"What?" he asks, all innocence, but his devious and amused smirk betrays him, "That's what girls like, right?"

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><p>Asuka doesn't know what the dance is called, what the moves are or if they're difficult or not, but she is absolutely enthralled by watching Lili dance. It's one thing to watch her in practice, but it's another to watch her do it for a proper <em>performance. <em>She is mesmerised as she spins, as she pauses, as she strides across the stage on her toes…

But then something's wrong. It's her ankle, she's twisted it on a particular landing and is limping through the remainder of her routine, before the main cast comes back. Asuka frowns deeply when she notes how Lili's face contorts with pain, but as she exits stage right, she leaps out of her seat and immediately heads towards the backstage area, ignoring Hwoarang's exaggerated whisper of 'use my pickup lines' as she heads off with her small bag.

It takes her a bit to get there, but once she does, she's angered to find that nobody is tending to her. She's angered to find that no one is seeing if she is okay, or getting her some help. Lili is sitting on the ground in her light pink and white tutu. She's taken off her slipper and is nursing it between her hands – she can see the swelling from here – but it's not until Lili lifts her head and looks at Asuka in horror does she sees tears too.

"Have you come to gloat at my failure?" she asks.

Asuka's since approached and is sitting beside her, going through her small bag as she pulls out a bandage, "Be quiet and let me look. I'll wrap it up for you. You need to get some ice on that too as soon as you can – you've got no more parts to dance now, right?" Lili nods, "I think you did great and handled yourself really well, but you should've stopped. You could've made it worse."

As Asuka begins to wrap up the ankle, Lili's venting, "I couldn't stop. I strive so hard to please my parents, and if they saw me stop up there they would have been furious!" She wipes away her few tears quickly, not noticing how the Japanese girl's seemingly frozen at the mention of doing something to please other people, "I want to fight, I don't want to dance! I don't mind dancing, but it's not what I want to do for the rest of my life, and they just do not understand…"

They are alike – just in different skins, with different thicknesses.

"I wanna be a fighter too. My Dad runs a dojo," Asuka's done with the bandage, and she looks across to some props, "But my Mum wants me to dance because I'm too boyish and will cost her grandchildren if I keep beating up guys. That's why I tried to come to your ballet classes and shit, but I'm just not coordinated enough for dancing. For hitting people, absolutely! But not dancing."

Lili's looking at her, "I wish I was like you. Without a care and happy."

Asuka blinks, "What? No, you don't wanna be like me, I've got an asshole of a Mother and th –"

Lili's kissing her. It's soft, swift and sweet, but Asuka, for once, doesn't have the confidence to ask for another. The look in those violet eyes worries her, too, once she pulls away – she doesn't want her to think she's been rejected in the slightest. She just doesn't really know what to say that isn't lame like those goddamn pickup lines.

Something else comes to mind, though. She stands to her feet and helps Lili's to hers too, letting her fall forward against her body because she's still kinda unsteady. Putting holding one of her hands and putting her own spare one on the blonde's waist, Asuka instead asks, "So then, Miss Rochefort – shall we dance?"

Their smiles are wide as they sway side to side amidst the gentle tune in the background.

One day, they'll dance together. Properly. But for now… this is more than good enough.


End file.
